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I find it surprising we still have such a hard time shielding electronics from radiation in space. The issues the Mars rover teams have had to deal with (even w

I find it surprising we still have such a hard time shielding electronics from radiation in space. The issues the Mars rover teams have had to deal with (even with redundant systems) have been pretty crazy.

outworlder 11y ago
Shielding electronics 'in space' is mostly solved. It does give headaches and increase costs. But orbiting Jupiter is another game entirely.
InclinedPlane 11y ago
Jupiter's radiation belts are extremely strong. If you were on a spaceship orbiting around, say, Io, for example, you'd experience radiation sickness in a matter of minutes. And you'd die from radiation exposure within around a day, maybe two. That radiation environment is also very difficult for computers to cope with because it means that there is a constant rain of penetrating high-energy particles which can potentially interfere with electronic components. Imagine a clock-work computer with exposed parts attempting to operate in an unrelenting rain of sand and gravel. That's the sort of environment that computing equipment has to deal with around Jupiter, in some ways it's surprising that they work at all.
vlasev 11y ago
There's a LOT of radiation in those belts around Jupiter - "Europa receives about 5.40 Sv of radiation per day.[19] (5.0 Sv is already considered lethal acute dose) from Jupiter's large radiation belts (10 times stronger than Earth's Van Allen radiation belts), and is a severe health threat to colonists without adequate radiation shielding. The satellite has only a very weak magnetosphere, which leaves it exposed to radiation by Jupiter and also the solar wind." From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Europa#Magnetic_field_and_Jupiter_radiation_belts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Europa#Magneti...

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I find it surprising we still have such a hard time shielding electronics from radiation in space. The issues the Mars rover teams have had to deal with (even w

by ohitsdom 11y ago

outworlder 11y ago
Shielding electronics 'in space' is mostly solved. It does give headaches and increase costs. But orbiting Jupiter is another game entirely.
InclinedPlane 11y ago
Jupiter's radiation belts are extremely strong. If you were on a spaceship orbiting around, say, Io, for example, you'd experience radiation sickness in a matter of minutes. And you'd die from radiation exposure within around a day, maybe two. That radiation environment is also very difficult for computers to cope with because it means that there is a constant rain of penetrating high-energy particles which can potentially interfere with electronic components. Imagine a clock-work computer with exposed parts attempting to operate in an unrelenting rain of sand and gravel. That's the sort of environment that computing equipment has to deal with around Jupiter, in some ways it's surprising that they work at all.
vlasev 11y ago
There's a LOT of radiation in those belts around Jupiter - "Europa receives about 5.40 Sv of radiation per day.[19] (5.0 Sv is already considered lethal acute dose) from Jupiter's large radiation belts (10 times stronger than Earth's Van Allen radiation belts), and is a severe health threat to colonists without adequate radiation shielding. The satellite has only a very weak magnetosphere, which leaves it exposed to radiation by Jupiter and also the solar wind." From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Europa#Magnetic_field_and_Jupiter_radiation_belts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terraforming_of_Europa#Magneti...